Workington Town have work to do in the second half of their Challenge Cup fourth-round tie against Doncaster as they trail 12-6 at half time.

Town already looked a touch sharper than they had against West Bowling in the opening five minutes but it was Doncaster who drew first blood as a fast, flowing move saw Jason Tali collect the ball at speed and motor over to score the first points of the afternoon. Matty Beharrell converted and the hosts were six points down after five minutes.

They responded with a good passage of play with sustained pressure on the Dons’ line but the away defence stood strong, even after losing Russ Spiers to the sin bin for a high tackle on Marcus O’Brien, and Town let their opponents off when Elliot Hall couldn’t bring a pass under control out wide when he would have had space to run into.

For all their success in keeping the ball in Doncaster territory, the home side had come away with no reward and they had to show their own organisation at the other end as the Dons launched a wave of attacks.

Having got through a spell with solid defence, Barnes looked to draw his team level, charging through Doncaster’s left-hand side and spinning past a defender but his final pass let him down when the visitors were exposed.

The breakthrough finally came for Town when Jamie Doran danced close to the posts and slipped a clever grubber kick through the defence for Hanley Dawson to dive on the ball for his first try for the club. Forber added the extras and the scores were level after 31 minutes.

Parity didn’t last as Doncaster pinned the home side back in their half with a kick and a little spell saw Tali skip in again after a good break from Brad Foster, who broke a tackle and slipped in his team-mate seconds before the hooter. Beharrell converted again to give the travellers a six-point lead at the break.